How to say “difference” in 43 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- diferencia/difeˈɾenθja/ Spanish
- разница[ˈrazʲnʲɪt͡sə] Russian
- अंतर/ən.t̪əɾ/ Hindi
- διαφορά/ˌðiafoˈra/ Greek
- পার্থক্য/paɾt̪ʰokːo/ Bengali
- வித்தியாசம்/ʋɪd̪d̪ɪjɑːtʃɐm/ Tamil
“difference” in Spanish: diferencia · French: différence · German: unterschied · Italian: differenza · Portuguese: diferença · Russian: разница · Hindi: अंतर · Turkish: fark
It is commonest in Turkish, where fark is the 316th most used word.
Difference in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans verskil/fərsˈkəl/ #908
- Albanian ndryshim/ndɾyʃim/ #896
- Basque desberdintasun/des̺berdintas̺un/ #1,974
- Bengali পার্থক্য/paɾt̪ʰokːo/ #703
- Bosnian razlika/rǎːzlika/ #1,477
- Bulgarian разлика[ˈrazlikɐ] #1,168
- Catalan diferència[di.fəˈɾɛn.si.ə] #1,214
- Croatian razlika/rǎːzlika/ #1,531
- Czech rozdíl[ˈrozɟiːl] #1,083
- Danish forskel/fɒːˌsɡɛlˀ/ #1,170
- Dutch verschil/vərˈsxɪl/ #1,186
- Esperanto diferenco/difeˈrent͡so/ #2,327
- Estonian erinevus/ˈerinevus/ #2,302
- Finnish erossa/ˈerossa/ #1,840
- French différence/di.fe.ʁɑ̃s/ #1,402
- German unterschied/ˈʔʊntɐˌʃiːt/ #1,528
- Greek διαφορά/ˌðiafoˈra/ #974
- Hebrew וולט/volt/ volt; the potential difference across a… #1,777
- Hindi अंतर/ən.t̪əɾ/ difference, distinction, peculiarity, property #1,960
- Hungarian különbség[ˈkylømpʃeːɡ] #1,887
- Icelandic munur[ˈmʏːnʏr] #2,162
- Indonesian berbeda/bərˈbɛ.da/ to have difference; to be different #366
- Italian differenza/dif.feˈrɛn.t͡sa/ #1,200
- Lithuanian skirtumas[¹ˈsʲkʲɪrtʊmɐs] #519
- Macedonian разлика[ˈrazlika] #501
- Malay berbeza/bərˈbɛ.za/ to have difference; to be different #449
- Malayalam വ്യത്യാസം/ʋjɐt̪jaːsɐm/ #477
- Norwegian forskjell/ˈfɔˌʂɛl/ #1,763
- Persian فرق[fæɹɢ̥] #621
- Polish różnica/ruʐˈɲi.t͡sa/ #1,840
- Portuguese diferença/d͡ʒi.feˈɾẽ.sɐ/ #1,064
- Russian разница[ˈrazʲnʲɪt͡sə] #1,299
- Serbian razlika/rǎːzlika/ #1,459
- Slovak rozdiel/rɔzɟɪ̯el/ #570
- Slovenian razlika/razlíːka/ #704
- Spanish diferencia/difeˈɾenθja/ #1,120
- Swedish skillnad/ˈɧɪlˌnad/ #1,363
- Tagalog diperensiya/dipeˌɾensiˈa/ difference; distinction #2,446
- Tamil வித்தியாசம்/ʋɪd̪d̪ɪjɑːtʃɐm/ difference, disparity #774
- Telugu తేడా/t̪eːɖaː/ #991
- Turkish fark/faɾk/ #316
- Ukrainian різниця[rʲizˈnɪt͡sʲɐ] #1,427
- Urdu اختلاف/ɪx.t̪ɪ.lɑːf/ discord, clash, difference, disagreement,… #1,921
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Bengali (google (bn_BD), CC BY-SA 4.0), Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 4.0), Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0) and Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.